Best and worst and why?

This is like those radio contests where you try to be the 9th caller...
oh well.
I have to seperate eras

1. The dawn of learning-4th grade...Mrs Armstrong-
encouragement, encouragement, encouragement

2. High school-Senior year-Mr. Dowell
flamingly gay and proud of it but boy could he translate the beauty of English

In the end I'm the best teacher I ever had-I learn at a steady pace. I'll never stop.

I'm waiting for someone to say Mrs. Robinson...


I'll have to think about my best. Three worst come to mind rather quickly.

Here's to Mrs. Armstrong and encouragment!!

Salute!!


Squinney: three bad ones//////,,,, I'm so sorry .\\


Yaaaas Pazade and you are our best teacher as well don't you know?>>

The best was a guy in Boston named Art Roidoulas (sp?). It was because of him I became an English teacher...

hmmm, actually, I don't know whether to thank him or curse him.

Sr Attila (her actual name was Sr Mary Consulata), we all called her Attila. She made up all kinds of lies and disinformation that leaned heavily upon the moral imperatives of the , then super Ukrainian and Roman Catholic Church of the most blessed redemption and precious blood and guts.
We tookm all this crap in and were scared shitless like all Catholic Kids. Those of us that didnt wind up as wiseguys and gals, wound up as really F***ed up adults.
She was the only one who took all these Blair Witch stories of the Church seriously. Im a total agnostic but I still bow my head when I say Jesus , except in swearing.

the best teacher I ever had was Mr Damiskotis.(he was more affectionately known as DAMMIS COOTIES) He was a great science teacher who, opened my eyes to the wonder and fun of science. It was he who, in a debate with our Neanderthal PAD teacher , provided documentation to refute the myth that Ben Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstrom. Actually, from proceedings of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society, Franklin himself wrote that his son , William, actually did the kite flying and traced the actual path of lightning.
It was in the proceedings paper that Franklin published and dismissed the contributions that his son made. Well, we all know into what that family's Thanksgiving dinners eventually degraded. BUT , thats not the point, is it?
Mr Damiskotis always admonished us that good research is based principally upon doing careful searches in the library and to keep your literature data on 3x5 cards. Im 55 and I still have many 3x5 cards from college and grad schools. Im afraid I may need something.

The internet takes the fun and discipline out of good library research. ANy moron can score goof data on the web.

Mr. Webb was my favorite. He was my history teacher in Jr High for 2 years in a row and he was a very funny man. He ended up leaving teaching and became a real estate broker. In fact, he sold our house for us before we made the move to Canada. Great guy!

Miss Mallon, my 6th grade teacher, was my favorite. After 5 years of white haired, marcelled, crones, Pat Mallon was a breath of fresh air.

She talked WITH us, not at us, and made us believe that we were collegues in learning.

Miss Gillam, my 7th grade gym and health teacher, was the worst. She was fat, filthy, and smelled like a barn. She told us these wild stories, that were supposed to keep us in line. I know now that she was mentally unbalanced, but it took a couple of years after I graduated, for the parents to have her removed.

Phoenix
Your old gym teacher sounds like my worst, which was my 8th grade math teacher Mr. Peterson.

While he may have been a horrible teacher, he had his charm. It was my junior high-school gym teacher, an aging hippie who owned an air-brushed van with a mattress in the back, and he laughed openly when nerds were pummelled in murderball. We once punctured his tires.

I had at least three fantastic English teachers in high school, who inspired me to start writing.

I had an instructor for advanced French grammar, Francis Nachtman, whose French was perfunctory and academic. His teaching method, however, was superb. He would never answer a question until he had gone around the room, asking each student. Someone in the class almost always knew the answer, so he rarely answered questions. He was dedicated to teaching, and did no more work for publishing than the minimum necessary to have become a full, tenured Professor. One of his published papers was Let the Students Do the Talking. He practiced what he preached; the members of the class were all French majors, and came in with an attitude of boredom. That did not last, people enjoyed the class and participated fully.

Sadly, a few years ago, while perusing The New York Times, i read Mr. Nachtman's obituary.

I would have to say my two worst were Mr Iverson and one whose name now eludes me. Iverson spent the entire class bullshitting with his students instead of teaching. The last I heard of him he was arrested for running naked in an alley, chasing a high school girl.
The other guy was totally ineffective. In his shop class the students stood just outside the door visiting and making wisecracks at the teach. He paddled one who went way too far, but, aside from that, he ignored the students. I was new and at first made a project. After that, I fell in with the class and did nothing.
As for good teachers - I liked most, but none really stand out from the pack.

We seem to find it easier to remember the worst than the best. Perhaps we incorporated the best of the good teachers in our own psyches and are still shuddering about the indignities the worst teachers inflicted upon us.

I would have to say my 7th and 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Keeley. He was wonderful. He was very enthusiastic and made class fun. He kept the students involved and engaged. I would never say he was an easy teacher, but he made the subject material easy to learn probably because we were more involved with the class rather than just being lectured. It was obvious to that he loved teaching and really cared for the students. I remember him to this day and think what a wonderful person he is and how lucky I was to have him as a teacher.

Hmmm.. I can't remember his name!!

I so need to remember his name... muuust... remember...
Think, superjuly... think!!!!

All right.. I can't remember his name (this is going to drive me insane) but I do know why he was the best teacher I have ever had.
He was a psychology teacher during my senior year in high school - GA. He was fun and weird in an interesting way. I never sat bored though his classes. NEVER.

One thing I can think about that guy is that he had such enthusiastic loving for his teaching career... I want to remember his name, now... I'll try.

Weren't you supposed to reveal your favorite teacher after the 10th reply, Joe? Well...

Big Al McLachlan. Grade 10 and 11 History. He really made me work on my critical thinking. I didn't much like him at the time. Not that I disliked him, but I didn't necessarily want my brain to be challenged.

He was a damn fine teacher.

Sally Lerner when I was in university. She pushed the intellectual challenge buttons with me as well. Pretty much dared me to come back to school when I'd accepted a permanent job with the government. She was right.

Ok there r two choices for my best:
Either Caroline, who's been my Biology teacher for about the last 4 years. She is truly amazing and inspired me to pursue Biology further - i just got accepted to Oxford!! At any rate she's hard as nails and anybody under 14 is terrified of her - but she really rules!!
The other option is Mr Gibbons - he must be at least 80 by now and has to walk with a cane. He's one of our resident supply teachers and he's a total legend - he came on in the staff revue @ Xmas and the cheer could be heard on the other side of the school. He has nicknames for all of us and he remembers them!! That's like a couple of hundred nicknames!! And he takes the mic out of everybody!! He's just the most fun teacher you've ever had. In one of my sisters lessons he 'phoned the police to say he'd lost his wife, Doris. He put her in a nursing home but forgot which one.... I happen to know for a fact that he has no wife (his sister attends my church) but it was still bloomin funny!!

Congratulations on your acceptance to Oxford, Bekaboo !!


Joe(Forgot this thread existed ) Nation

Mr McGrath, my year 12 English Lit & English Expression teacher. He encouraged my very shy self at that age to write my little heart out! What a great audience he was! He must have done the same for heaps of others in our Expression class, too. Mr McGrath made you feel like you had very important things to say & brought out the very best in you.
And as for Literature .... somehow he made Murder in the Cathedral, Othello, The Canterbury Tales, etc, live! I'm smiling now, recalling nicking off from sport with my friend, Leonie, & spending the entire afternoon sitting under a tree behind the school reading 3 or 4 characters each from The Crucible.